Mini Reviews ][ The Scorpio Races ][ Sweetly ][ Cinder

Hey y'all! I've decided to combine a few books in this review because I read them all a really long time ago so the reviews would be short anyway. I can't remember all the details, but I'll try my best to give an accurate portrayal of my opinions.

  Title ][ The Scorpio Races

Author ][ Maggie Stiefvater

Chapters (Summary) ][ link

Rating ][

I had to read this book because I loved Stiefvater's Shiver series, and I definitely wasn't disappointed! I was skeptical when I started, but ended up totally adoring The Scorpio Races. The characters were endearing, the plot was interesting, and I found myself torn between two sides. After all, the races can only have one winner, and I spent the whole novel trying to decide who to root for! I totally loved the ending, and even the alternating POV weren't too bad.

One thing that really impressed me in this novel was Stiefvater's depiction of riding. All of the descriptions were spot on, and I think it's one of the most accurate horseback riding novels I've ever read. As I am one myself, I feel I have to recommend this to all my fellow riders. Please read this! You won't be disappointed.

Why five kernels? This book was sweet, the romance was believable, the riding scenes made me feel as if I were actually riding, the ending was great and unpredictable, and it was interesting throughout. The perfect read for a rainy day.

Title ][ Sweetly

Author ][ Jackson Pearce

Chapters (Summary) ][ link

Rating ][

Sisters Red is one of my all time favourite novels, so obviously I had to read Sweetly. I wasn't disappointed with this one either. I love how the book centers around the child of the two main characters from the previous novel (each book focuses on one generation... isn't that cool?!), but I kinda wish it didn't include the werewolves. I think it would have worked just as well as an independent novel, rather than part of a serious. However, this is a really minor complaint, as the book truly was awesome. The characters were great (although Sophia broke my heart), and the novel flew by far too quickly. 

I will say that I always find Pearce's action sequences a tad hard to follow, but the rest of the book was so great that I'm willing to overlook it.

Why five kernels? It was great. I spent the weeks after learning how to make various kinds of chocolate and have now decided on a future career as a chocolatier. Yes, it really was that inspiring.

 Title ][ Cinder

Author ][ Marissa Meyer

Chapters (Summary) ][ link

Rating ][

 There's been so much hype around this book that I felt I had to read it. And I must say it was pretty good, despite sounding like your typical cliche-novel-disguised-as-something-original-but-truly-complete-random-and-horrid kind of book. There were some parts I had trouble believing ( I mean, the Lunars/aliens/mind readers? Really?), and I really wish that some parts of the novel could have been simplified down a bit. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the Lunars, but they just took this book out of the "kinda believable future" realm and put it in the kingdom of "totally fantasy, no effing way this will ever happen" which made me kind of sad. I like it when my books are believable, if a bit far fetched.

That said, I totally loved the main character. Cinder was a tough female protagonist, and she never gave up. She totally fit my archetype for favourite characters, and I can't wait to read about her in the next novel.

Why four kernels? If you don't mind authors throwing random mind-controlling aliens at you, you'll probably love this book. I found it a bit hard to believe, but still enjoyed the original concept and totally BAMF main character.

][ Midelaye